Science
Scientific discoveries and research
Reconfigurable robotic fish reveals how stiffness and wave propagation shape swimming performance
How can some fish, like tuna, achieve remarkable speed while others, like eels, excel in maneuverability? A research team from Peking University (PKU) has devel...
Cuttlefish use polarized light to create a dramatic mating display invisible to humans
Many organisms leverage showy colors for attracting mates. Because color is a property of light (determined by its wavelength), it is easy for humans to see how...
How defects make permanent magnets even more efficient
Rare-earth magnets are essential for electric motors in vehicles, drones, and trains, forming the backbone of modern, environmentally friendly mobility. These a...
Streaks on Mercury show that it is not a 'dead planet'
Although Mercury was geologically active in its early days, today its surface appears almost completely static. This is why it is often perceived as a dead and...
Trust in Ph.D. advisor can predict a good grad school experience
The advisor-advisee relationship is central to most doctoral education models. Yet not all students trust their advisors. Danfei Hu, Jonathan E. Cook and collea...
Gold 'supraballs' nearly double solar energy absorption in tests
Sunbeams contain a lot of energy. But current technology for harvesting solar power doesn't capture as much as it could. Now, in ACS Applied Materials & Interfa...
First radio signals from rare supernova reveal star's final years
Astronomers have captured the first radio waves ever detected from a rare class of exploding star, a discovery that has given them an unprecedented look into th...
AI unlocks hundreds of cosmic anomalies in Hubble archive
A team of astronomers has employed a cutting-edge, artificial intelligence–assisted technique to uncover rare astronomical phenomena within archived data from N...
Red flowers have a 'magic trait' to attract birds and keep bees away
For flowering plants, reproduction is a question of the birds and the bees. Attracting the right pollinator can be a matter of survival—and new research shows h...
Claiming your business page on review platforms can have unintended effects on customer reviews, study shows
Claiming a business page on an online review platform such as Yelp may result in a sharp decline in ratings and an increase in lengthy, negative customer feedba...
Where did southern Australia's record-breaking heat wave come from?
Millions of people in southeastern Australia are sweating through a record-breaking heat wave. The heat this week is likely to be one for the history books. The...
Groundhogs are lousy forecasters but valuable animal engineers—and an important food source
Whether you call him groundhog, woodchuck, whistle-pig or use the full genus and species name, Marmota monax, the nation's premier animal weather forecaster has...